Archives for April 2006

Sometimes I think that Radley Balko is the most important blogger in the world for his tireless work in documenting daily the atrocious injustices that go on here in The Land of the Free. Of course, everyone knows we're all human, that mistakes resulting in cruel injustices happen even in the wake of good intentions and generally prudent and reasonable policies.
But what if that's not what ...

Profit of $18,683 for the month, a 40% return on risk
March was reported here. April finished pretty much how I had accounted for it then, with details in the chart below.
(Remember, under the "Trd" (Trade) caption, B = buy, S = sell, T = to,
O = open, and C = close. '#' is for the number of contracts purchased
at 100 shares per contract. All spreads are on the SPX for ...

Well, that's the saying anyway. Today it proved to be somewhat true in my case. Longtime readers (thank you so kindly) are aware of my initiative last spring to earn my ticket flying powered airplanes. This was my last entry on the subject, from last July. I was well on my way to finishing up in September. Then, we decided to sell our house, buy a downtown loft, move, invest in and sometimes ...

I cannot begin to describe to you the general contempt I have for what that concept has come to mean in this culture. I'm not sure, but I can well imagine that it originally served to describe those who behave dishonorably in their dealings with others.
Today, in terms of dishonest word manipulation, it's at the very top. Today, when you hear it, it's nearly always a veil intended to cover an ...

That's the net worth of the once great General Motors if you count their contractual pension obligations going forward (and why wouldn't you?). Recently, out of a real business necessity, they're pursuing cash flow at the expense of profits to the tune of about $1,200 cost (borrowed) each time they sell a vehicle.
Know what? I really don't care if GM--or any other once-great American company, ...

From a comment, here:Your right we should be ashmaned of ourselves. and for Katrina too. I
dont like the republicans anymore. they inspire hate for our own, but
let scum like Iran breathe.Wally:
That's quite a mix of things. I suppose the only way to tie them together is under a common premise of "entitlement."
Immigrants are entitled to social services. Katrina victims are
entitled ...

Yes; I'm talking directly to you.
See, I'm reading and hearing a whole lot lately about how sacred are the "laws of the land." ...How respectful and reverent we must be and how solemn must be our demeanor when contemplating the dire warnings of crumbled civilizations brought about by the prospect of lawbreakers!!! Well, dear reader:
YOU ARE A LAWBREAKER!
Do you own a computer? An ...

Guy Herbert, over at one of my favorite foreigner blogs, samizdata.net ("samizdat"), knows question begging when he sees it.[...] But how does a state achieve the balance between the need for control of its borders and the need to facilitate movement across its borders for legitimate purposes such as trade, tourism, family reunion and education?...asks the IOM, seeking to explain its ...

It may come as a complete surprise to some, but I got into a political discussion with my dad's oldest friend (we're talkin' since 8th grade) last night at my mom's 65th birthday party. Yea...about the immigration deal, protectionism and such.
This morning, I've got an email that references the conversation, along with a reference to this post by Michelle Malkin, who I just about can't stomach ...

I suppose that Jonah Goldberg is at least to be commended for this most accurate depiction of what constitutions really are--or at least eventually become.
This, via Drizzten, and you ought to head over and read his Spooner quote--if not the whole Spooner essay which he links to. It's a classic 'must-read' for everyone, especially those who harbor sacred notions regarding the US ...

Wow. Haven't posted in a while. Busy. Actually, I'm trying to put together a $5 million construction project. Here in the Bay Area--Sunnyvale, in particular--that's six townhouses on a 12,000 square foot lot. I've got the land under contract for $1.2 million and have been working on putting a financing package together for the cost of construction.
Met the architect, yesterday. I swear to God: ...

Here's some food for thought to all you "law-abiding, 'compassionate' conservatives" out there, as well as democrats who smell the red meat that the immigration issue is sizing up to be for the upcoming solve-all-problems-by-voting-your-1/270,000,000th-say season.
I'm reading reports of the massive demonstrations and I can't help but recall back in the day when people were breaking laws ...

I've been sitting on the Doctor Doom story for about a week since I first came across it.Recently citizen scientist Forrest Mims told me about a speech he
heard at the Texas Academy of Science during which the speaker, a
world-renowned ecologist, advocated for the extermination of 90 percent
of the human species in a most horrible and painful manner. Apparently
at the speaker's direction, the ...

JTK over at No Treason duly bitch-slaps Libertarian turned Republican Congressman Ron Paul.You bandy about the words “illegal” and “lawbreaker” as if they had moral content. They don’t.
Weren’t Washington, Jefferson, Franklin and all the founding fathers lawbreakers? Wasn’t Thoreau? Or Martin Luther King?
Wasn’t the Declaration of Independence itself an act of lawbreaking?
Men have no moral ...

I'm in Vegas (again) for a couple of days. All business, this time.
In the meantime, Billy Beck has a very good post up that explains what I mean when I say that "America exists all over the world."
Go take a look. ...

Reason's Tim Cavanaugh highlights a couple of recent studies (748 patients and 1,800 patients) that suggest that not only is prayer for the sick of no measurable therapeutic benefit, it often measurably hurts, i.e., makes people worse off.God comes up empty-handed in the largest, longest study of the effect
of intercessory prayer. In a study of 1,800 heart bypass surgery
patients, the American ...

One of my greatest memories of growing up in Reno, Nevada was our annual deer-hunting trips up north to Elko County, within eyeshot of the Ruby Mountains. My family (grandfather, grandmother, dad, mom, and assorted others) hunted deer exclusively with scoped .243 bolt-action rifles. That was the only suitable gun with which to hunt mule deer in Nevada's sagebrush and open spaces, in our ...

To a comment:
To be perfectly honest, this is how I approached
"libertarianism" from the beginning, back in 1990--owing to the
influence that awakened my mind. I saw it not so much as a required evolution in
"practical politics," as society is currently arranged, but more
as a need to “evolve” (or motivate) the "practical mind" to the next
stage of its necessary ...

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I'm Richard Nikoley, and this is my blog. Free the Animal began by a different name in 2003, and as of 2016, contains over 4,000 posts and 100,000 comments from readers. I cover a lot of ground, blogging what I wish, from health, diet, and lifestyle to philosophy, politics, and social issues. I celebrate the audacity and hubris to live by your own exclusive authority and take your own chances in life.

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Elixa Probiotic is a British biotech manufacturer in Oxford, UK. U.S. Demand is now so high they've established distribution centers in Illinois, Nevada, and New Jersey.

Still, sell-outs happen regularly, so order now to avoid a waiting list.